Counter for turn shoes



May 24, 1932. M. ROWE 1,859,533

COUNTER FOR TURN SHOES Filed June 24, 1951 l. I III 11/) 4474 jfigZ.

Invenior'. M law-2,

Patented May 24, 1932 PATENT 'orrllcn MERTON n-own, or snLIsmmY, MASSACHUSETTS.

coun'rnn non TURN" snons Applicationfiled June 24,

This invention relates to certain improvements in the manufacture of shoes of the type known as turns, in the Construction of which the upper is sewed to the solewhile held on the last inside out, by a single row ofstitches, which extend entirely about-the shoe, so that the shoe has what is usually termed a sewed heel seat.

Shoes: of this type are usually for Women and carry a high heel, usually of wood, which is attached to the heel part of the sole, which forms the heel seat, by nails driven from inside the shoe after the shoe bottom has been leveled. Unless the heel seat is level'transversely or is in a-plane which is parallel to the bottom of the sole at the'fore part, the

heel when attached willtilt sidewise, so that when the shoe 1s worn, the weight of the wearer will be borne on one side portion of the heel instead of on its entire tread surface, that is, the shoe will not tread;

Asa result the heel will soon'become distorted' in shape, and numerous difi'iculties will result, all of which are well known; a

I have discovered that the principal reason why heel seats become inclined to oneside.

in the process of making, instead of being level, is because there is more substance 'between the bottom of the last on which the shoe is held and the heel seat surface at one side than at the other, and that when this occurs it is not usually possible to correct this defect by the beatingout process. I have further ascertained that this increased thickness of substance at one side over the opposite side is usually entirelydue to the fact that the edge portion of the counter which is sewed. to the heel part of the sole between the upper and lining is of greater thickness at one side than at the other. Also, that while the counter,'which is usually made of sole leather in shoes of this'type, when placed in position at the time ofthe lasting operation, is, formed identically the same as to thickness. at one side as at the other and may be lasted in exactly the same at one side as atthe other, unless the sole attaching stitches are located at the same distance from the edge of the counter at one sideas at theother, the portion ofthe counter includediby the 1931. Serial m. I 546,475,

stitches is likely to be of" greater thickness at one side than at the other, on account of the fact that the lower edge portion ofthe counterhas always, so far as I am aware,

been skived, orbeveled in wedge form, so that the thickness of the edge portion increasesuniformly from a sharp edge to the full thickness ofthe counter. I have further ascertained that during the operation of sewing about the heel seat, the operator is likely to have great diiiiculty in so guiding or holding the shoe that the stitches will not be placed, at a greater distance from the edge of the counter at one side than at the other side, and that this is due not only to the variations in the angular position at which the shoe is held, but also: to a tendency, which the curved needle appears to have to; draw in the counter slightly, or to tilt theshoe slightly from the position in which it is. held with each stijtch,-by the. action thereon, as it penetrates. This tendency, which theneedle of the sewing machine appears; to, have, of gradually increasing thedis taince at which it penetrates from the bottom edge of the counter, as the shoe is stitched: about the heel, is increased according to the resistance offeredto the penetration of the needle, so that if the bottom edge portion of the counter increases in thickness uniformly from the edge, the greater the; distanceis from the edge of the counter-to the point when the needle penetrates, the greater will be the tendency to tilt the shoe, so that this; distance will be increased in taking; subsequent stitches, Consequently, it the stitchhas been placed at say one-eighth of an-inch from the bottom edge of the counter at one side, this distance maybeiound to have been increased to nearly three-eighths of an inch irom; the

edge at the opposite side and, as the skiving is usually extended onlyto about half-an inch from the edge, t e r enclose less than half the thickness ofthe stock'at; one side and enclose nearly the full thickness of the stock at the otherside, so that with acounter which Ilsa- 1 thick the thickness of the stock included by the stitches at oneside may be as much as greater a o e side than at the other, l

esult is that the stitches V inner side is usually beveled to a shoulder the above described difficulties in and the edge portions of the upper counter and lining are sewed against this shoulder and beveled surface, so that the seam is located close to, but within the outer edge of the heel of the sole, which formsthe heel seat of the shoe. After the shoe is turned a heel and shank stiffener is usuallv inserted in the shoe, which extends over the turned in edge portions of thelining counter and upper, so that, when the shoe is relasted, if the thickness of the counter portion included by the stitches is greater at one side than at the other, the heel seat will become cor,- respondingly higher at this side than at the other side, with the resultthat the heel will be tilted to one side when it is attached, unless it is possible to level the heel seat by a, beating out operation, which in many instances, is practically impossible.

' The object of my invention isto obviate the construction of turn shoes having a sewed heel seat, so that when the shoe is relasted the surface of the heel seat will be parallelwith the bottom of the last and the heel when attached' will not be tilted laterally from the position in which it should be held.

- I accomplish this object primarily by so shaping the bottom edge portion of the counter to be employed in the construction of the shoe, that the portion thereof in which the stitches are placed, or are likely to be placed, will be of approximately uniform thickness, so that whether the stitches are placed in portions close to the edge of the counter, or near the inner portion of the normally skived portion, the thickness of the substance enclosed by the stitches will be practically the same.

For a more complete disclosure of the invention, reference is made to the following specification in connection with the accompanying drawings in which Fig. l is a plan View of a counter blank embodying my invention. 7

Fig. 2 is a sectional view thereof at line 2- 2 of Fig. 1 on an enlarged scale.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view of a portion of the heel part of a shoe, after sewing and before turning and in which the counter embodying my invention, is incorporated,

Fig. at is a transverse section of the heel part of shoe after turning.

In the manufacture of turn shoes having sewed heel seats, it is necessary to employ a form of counter, or heel stiffener which may be rendered sufliciently flexible to permit turning and the general practice is to employ sole leather counters for this purpose which are suitably softened, or placed in temper during'the' manufacturing process and are shapedto the last when the shoe is 'relasted.

Before the counter is placed in the shoe,

. surface, as it extends according to previous various Well known forms.

edges of the upper,

the blank is skived entirely about its edge on the flesh side, and, so far as I am aware, the skiving out. has always been made by a straight edged knife, so that the skived edge portion is increased in the thickness at a uniform rate from the edge inward for approximately A starting, for example, at a thickness of 3- 7 and increasing at a uniform rate to the fullthickness of the stock, many instances is from A, to 1 ness.

According to in thickbe similar to any other blank which is ordinarily employed for the purpose and which is skived about its top edge andat its ends in the usual manner. The only feature in which the counter differs from that ordi narily employed is in theformation of the bottom edge portion, which is skived by means of a suitably curved knife to provide an edge portion 6, of approximately three fourths of the width'of the whole skived portion, which is of practically uniform thickness thruout its entire width, the remaining one-fourth 0, of the skived portion, being sharply beveled to the full thickness of the stock, as shown in Fig. 2. While the skived the portion 0' might beat a sharp obtuse angle, a sharp angle atthis point is not preferable, the two surfaces being blended, as shown, by a slightly curved connecting surface at the point where the thickness is perceptably increased. In practice the thickness of the portion 1) at the extreme edge is preferably slightly greater thanthe thickness at this'point when the edge portion is skived in the manner which has previously-been customary, the skived surface practice being indicated by the dotted line 00 in Fig. 2. 7 I I linconstructing the shoe in which a counter prepared according/to my invention is employed, a sole (Z is provided, whichfhas been channeled for turnsewing by forming the usual inclined slit or channel 6 therein and the usual edge shoulder f and beveled edge 9, the particular formation of the edge of the sole being varied as'desired, as the form shown is merely illustrative of one of p The sole is first secured on the last with its grain side nextthe last bottom and then the upper is lasted thereon inside out, the edge portion of the upper being laid against the shoulder f,

and the edge portion 6 of the counter a being disposed between the upper andthe lining i, as shown in Fig. 3, in which position the counter and lining will be 'practicallyflush and adjacent the level of theinner side of the sole. These parts are then attached by'stitches j, which pass therethru from the bottom of the channel 0 to the bottom of the shoulder 'f inthe-usual which in my invention, a counter blank a is provided, which 1n outhne, may

preferably from the portion 12 to V manner. As the edge portion 7) of the counter is of uniform thickness, it will be apparcut that the thickness of the substances enclosed by the stitches will be the same, whether the stitches pass thru the counter edge portion 6 close to the edge of the counter, or close to the sharply beveled portion 0 thereof. 7

It is to be noted, in this connectiomthat the seam is located at a substantial distance within the edge of the sole and that, after the shoe has been turned and the usual heel and shank reinforce it has been placed in the shoe, the edge portion of the reinforce extends over the seam, so that the substance enclosed by the stitches is located between the reinforce and the outer surface. of the sole. Consequently, when the shoe is relast ed, as shown in Fig. 4;, if the substancebetween the bottom of the heel part of the last and the outer surface of the sole, which forms the heel seat, is of uniform thickness at the seam at each side, then the heel seat will be level so that when the heel m is placed thereon and secured, it will not be tilted to either side.

If, however, the form of counter, as previously prepared, is employed in the construc tion' of the shoe and the stitches are placed nearer the edge of the counter at one side of the heel part than at the opposite side, then the substance between the last bottom and the outer surface of the sole, at the seam, will be of greater thickness at one side than at the other, and the heel seat will not be level, but will be inclined from one side to the other, so that the heel will be tilted out of position.

It will be apparent,therefore, that when a counter having its bottom margin or stitch receiving portion of uniform thickness is employed, in accordance with my invention, it will be immaterial whether the operator tilts the shoe in performing the sewing operation, so as to place the stitches close to-the edge of the counterat one side than atthe opposite side, or whether the action of the needle draws in the counter to a greater extent at one side than at the other, so that the same result is produced, as the thickness of the substance between the last bottom and the heel seat surface at theseam will be the same at both sides of the heel part.

It may be noted in this connection that,

after the shoe has been'sewed and before it is turned, the edge portion of the upper counter and lining are usually trimmed 05 to the level of the inner side of the sole, or as close to the stitches as practical, so that there will be no unevenness due to edge portions of these parts extending in beyond the line of stitches to a greater extent at one side than at the other side.

After the shoe has been turned and the heel H and shank reinforce has been inserted, the. portion 6 of the counter which is of uniform thickness will be below the level ofthe inner side of the reinforce, so'that the full thickness of the counter will be fully effective in stiffening the heel part of the shoe.

While it ispreferable that the stitch-receiving, portion 6 of the counter be of uniform thickness, slight variations in this regard may be made without departing from v the spirit of the-invention and are likely to occurrin the production of the counter blank, but these variations are not likely to be suflicient to effect the results materially, as would be the case if the skived bottom edge portion was formed with a straight bevel, so that it is increased in thickness uniformly from the bottom edge. v

I claim:

l. A counter for'turn shoes having sewed heel seats consisting of a blank of pliable sheet material having its bottom edge portion of reduced thickness and formed to provide a stitch receiving portion of uniform thickness extending from the bottom edge for a substantial portion of the width of said edge portion and a beveled portion extending from said stitch-receiving portion to the full thickness of the material.

2. A counter for turn shoes having sewed heel seats consisting ofa blank of pliable sheet material having its bottom edge portion of reduced thickness and formed to'provide a stitch-receiving portion of uniform thickness extending from the bottom edge for the greater portion of the width of said edge portion' and a beveled portion extending from said stitch-receiving portion for the remainder of the width of said edge portion and of uniformly increasing thickness.

3. A counter for turn shoes having sewed heel seats consisting of a blank of pliable sheet material having its bottom edge portion skived on one side to form a stitch-receiving portion of uniform thickness which extends from the edge for the greater portion of the width of the skived portion and a beveled 

